COAS holds meeting with Afghan president

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has held one-on-one meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Presidential Palace, Kabul.

According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement issued here on Monday, the meeting was followed by delegation-level talks. On his arrival in Kabul, the COAS was received by Afghan army chief and was presented a guard of honour.  It was agreed by both the sides to form task teams for cooperation in various fields.

The Afghan president said that Afghanistan and Pakistan were friendly countries and together both should move towards enduring peace and stability. During the meetings, issues of common interest came under discussion.

Both sides reviewed the prevailing security environment in the region and the state of bilateral relationship. An exchange of views and perspectives spanned the full range of Pak-Afghan relationship.

Issues related to long-term peace, cooperation against the shared threats, coordination between respective counter-terrorism campaigns to restrict space for non-state actors, intelligence sharing, trade and commerce, and people-to-people contacts were discussed.

The COAS offered Pakistan’s complete support to Afghanistan in achieving shared interests in the war against terrorism including training and capacity building of Afghan security forces. Both sides agreed on the framework for working towards peaceful environment conducive to political process, essential for an enduring Afghan peace and regional stability.

There was also a consensus on regular and focused dialogue at multiple levels to evolve bilateral process for minimising misunderstandings, managing crisis situations and enhancing cooperation in order to bring peace and stability in the region.

From the Afghan side, Afghan 2nd vice president, first deputy chief executive officer, 2nd deputy chief executive officer, NSA, NDS chief, defence minister, interior minister, Afghan ambassador to Pakistan and Afghan army chief attended the meeting. The COAS was accompanied by foreign secretary, DG ISI, Pakistan ambassador to Kabul and the COAS staff.